Julia Child's Queen of Sheba Cake: Chocolate Royalty

How lucky to find Julia herself demonstrating this wonderful, delicious cake! You can watch the YouTube video link below.

I have even made this gluten free by omitting the 3/4 cup of flour and adding that amount to the amount of ground almonds. I also use strong room temp coffee in place of rum in both the cake and ganache. Coffee and chocolate couple perfectly. I serve this cake at my family's annual Julia Child birthday celebration every August 15.

Sharing my color photos of Julia's La Reine de Saba (en francais). Only 1.5 inches high. Delish!
                                                           

Voila!

Before ganache

Video about 30 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8clrnFM3Ys

Prep 8 inch pan butter and flour (I use removable bottom pan) preheat oven to 350.

Cake:

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 4 ounces of a bar
2 tablespoons of dark rum (I use strong coffee)
1 stick soft unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar pinch of salt for egg whites near start
2 tablespoons granulated sugar added to egg whites when nearly done
1/3 cup ground unsalted almonds
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup cake flour (I use all purpose flour)

Method:

Melt chocolate and rum and wait till room temperature before adding soft butter, sugar, and almond extract, add dry ingredients. Lastly fold in egg whites that have been whipped toward end add the cream of tartar and pinch of salt. They should be peaked not dry from over whipping. Fold them into creamed ingredients. Add to prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes. DO NOT over bake. Middle will be moist as shown in Julia's video. Cool well before applying this ganache topping.

Ganache: Prepare while cake bakes

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 3 ounces of a bar
1 1/2 tablespoon rum (I use coffee)
6 tablespoons unsalted soft butter
Almonds for decoration - whole or sliced unsalted

After melting chocolate and rum, whip in soft butter to add shine and thickening to consistency. Add to cooled cake to avoid melting. Decorate with more almonds.

This cake is decadent and delish! Can be frozen to serve in future.

Ingredients from, The French Chef Cookbook, by Julia Child, published April 15, 1968, Alfred A. Knopf, page 285.

Ireland: Let's Eat Cake

Full disclosure: this recipe does not include whiskey or beer, but it is well worth your interest. Stay tuned for a future post on two fabulous recipes using Bailey's Irish Cream. Today, this is a delicate, delicious, butter-rich cake with or without an orange-lemon glaze, and it's gorgeous!!

My grandmother Bridget O'Day was an amazing professional cook who worked in the kitchen of her Chicago parish. This recipe was handed down to me from her daughter, and I remember baking this when I was in high school. It was called Hartigan Cake, but after dabbling into my Irish genealogy, I am certain the cake was named after Bridget's grandmother, my great-great grandmother, Bridget Hardiman from County Roscommon Ireland. I point this out as the ingredients call for sour milk a key ingredient in rural Irish baking.

The Irish language word for milk is bán-chia which translates as white meat. Milk continues to be a staple in the Irish diet. Before refrigeration, the shelf life of milk was less than one day in summer. The milk turned sour from bacteria that was then killed by heat during the baking process, so it was used in many baked recipes to avoid waste. Today, people substitute buttermilk in recipes calling for sour milk, as I did below.

                                                           Bridget O'Day ~18 (1920)

Hardiman (formerly Hartigan) Cake

Ingredients: Cake
2 cups sugar
4 cups flour
2 cups room temp buttermilk (can make by adding 2 tablespoons lemon juice in regular milk)
1 cup melted salted butter
2 eggs - room temp so rising compounds aren't shocked by cold ingredients
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
Juice of one whole orange
Zest of two oranges

Glaze - Optional as cake is tasty with or without this step.
1 cup sugar
Juice of one lemon
Juice of two oranges
Combine and let these sit on counter while cake bakes. Most of the sugar will dissolve. OK to have some sugar stay on cake when basted.

Method:
Prepare bundt or tube pan with spray oil containing flour. The flour allows the cake to rise up in the pan. Preheat oven to 350. Photo shown was baked in a Nordic ware bundt pan ~$28 on Amazon.

Cream butter and sugar about 5 minutes. Add eggs and buttermilk. Add dry ingredients. Last add orange zest and orange juice blend by hand and add to prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until done.

Cool in bundt pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place over cooling rack to catch excess glaze. While hot prick the top and sides of cake with tooth pick or skewer and baste spoonfuls of glaze over cake. Cool 2 hours. Sprinkle with powder sugar.

                                                              Looks too good to eat!!

My sous-chef, Ducati, waits patiently for the crumbs.

Italy: Espresso, Cappuccino, NO Latte!

With spring around the corner, let's dream of traveling to Italy. My first morning in Milan fourteen years ago, I found myself at a charming packed coffee bar where I timidly ordered a latte. The gentleman delivered a hot glass of milk to my table! I quickly learned the Italian word for milk, and I never made that rookie mistake again. 

When in Rome you will want to savor the world's finest coffee (well, outside Bali's Kopi Luwak, but that's a future blog). There is no shortage of sampling locations with a "bar" on at least every corner. Vatican City controls the real estate beyond St. Peter's Square and there were mixed opinions when McDonald's opened a location on nearby via Borgo Pio in December 2016. However, the espresso is excellent the seating ample with local delicious bakery as good as my other two favorite locations with deep Roman roots and completely different atmospheres.  

Castroni's is a vibrant grocery store at via Ottaviano 55, with a terrific coffee bar serving their own fresh roasted beans. I refresh alongside the many locals with a quick cuppa before shopping for food souvenirs such as their prepackaged spices, pasta, risotto, 000 flour, coffee beans and my JUMBO coffee mug above. These mugs are typically displayed in bars throughout Italy for storing various coffee sweeteners. I had to have one - to go!

For a more private, local coffee bar experience, walk one block off St. Peter's Square to Wine Bar De Penitenzieri via de Penitenzieri 16, for the very best espresso in Rome. They also serve wine and great food, but the morning brew will continue to draw you back. 

Here is their link: https://www.winebardepenitenzieri.it

Julia Child's Easy, Perfect Omelette

Long before I spent my first night in Julia Child's home in Provence, I shared a kinship spirit with her.  Julia bore an uncanny resemblance to my grandmother, Mary Sheridan, despite the one foot height disparity and 10 year age difference. They shared an undeniable shape of face, skin structure, and hair texture. Judge for yourself in these photos.

In France, Julia held a weekly rendezvous at Elizabeth Arden's Red Door salon in Cannes, while Mary's weekly coiffure took place in Ruby's basement salon. Mary, too, was a fabulous cook and her vessel of choice was an aged cast iron frying pan that I am certain Julia would have approved.

Anyone can replicate Julia's famous omelette. Watch this quick video first to gain the necessary confidence of what the final product should look like and then GO for it!

Julia demonstrates making omelettes on YouTube about 5 minutes covers the full skills:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCtuRLqlt7o


Ingredients for one:
2 eggs room temp cold will disrupt hot butter in pan
1 teaspoon water
Salt and pepper
Butter for pan - lots bubbling before adding eggs

Method:
Lightly mix eggs and water, do not over beat. Keep liquidity. Don't whip up those whites. Melt a good amount of butter in pan. Replicate Julia's style.


Julia Child a bit older                                                Mary Sheridan age 48 (1950)

Cortona: Under the Tuscan Sun & EVOO

Cortona exemplifies the ultimate Italian hilltop town. Nestled in the heart of Tuscany, the location is ideal as a base to visit nearby Siena, Assisi, Perugia, Montepulciano, Montalcino, and Pienza. Cortona has many churches including the basilica of Santa Margherita built in the 11th century featuring a glass crypt displaying the remains of the saint at the main altar. All the restaurants are wonderful. I had amazing risotto with wild boar and truffle at La Loggetta in the main piazza. Despite the passing years, I remember that meal as if I had it yesterday.

Since 1996, Cortona has become a world-famous destination due to the popularity of the book  Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes that details the purchase of her 200-year old, five-acre estate Bramasole, which means to yearn for the sun. The book is a must read. The 2003 movie was filmed in this magical village. A terrific place to stay steps from the main piazza with limited parking is The Hotel San Michele, via Guelfa 15.

My love of Cortona began during my first visit in 2005. It continues to this day with my annual delivery of a case of authentic, award-winning, extra-virgin olive oil produced on Bramasole by Frances and Ed Mayes. I have a spoonful of Cortona each and everyday to quench my yearning for the sun. . . and so can you.

Attached is the link to the Bramasole website where you can order this amazing oil and learn more about the Mayes. It makes for a wonderful gift. Often I give the oil, the book, and the movie as a gift trip to Tuscany for my special loved ones! (I purchase the books and movies on Amazon.) I have been a member of the oil consortium for more than a decade and highly recommend it.

http://www.bramasoleoliveoil.com

Valentine's Day: Verona City of Love & Tiramisu

I did not expect to fall in love with the city of Verona. Known around the world as the setting of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet depicted in the 1968 Academy Award film by Franco Zeffirelli,           more than 1 million visitors a year stop at the home of Giulietta Capuleti heroine of the romantic story. You can walk through the rooms of the family home and leave a letter for Giulietta or post a note as seen in the photo below. Romeo's family home is located a short walk away. The gift stores surrounding Juliet's home abound with every trinket imaginable including cookies known as Juliet's kisses and Romeo's hugs shown in the picture below. You can find recipes on the internet.

Verona also has many architectural wonders, beautiful cathedrals, and a Roman-period Colosseum still used for concerts. This fall I missed Andrea Bocelli by a few days. The entire old town area is walkable with booming retail shops, eateries, and gelato cafes galore.

Chef and cookbook author, Maria Cristina Tabacchi, led a small group of us cooking fresh pasta, ragu, risotto, and my favorite, tiramisu. Having just prepared this recipe with a fabulous home chef, Clara, in Venice, my recipe below combines the best elements of both cities. That's Amore!

Tiramisu alla Venice and Verona

Ingredients:

Cookies - imported lady fingers (photo available at Trader Joe's, but soft Italian ones are best if you can find)
6 oz expresso fresh brewed bring to room temp (will have leftovers)
1 teaspoon of sugar add to expresso
8 oz mascarpone
2 oz sugar
3 whole eggs separated
2 tablespoons aged grappa it is golden and flavorful NOT regular Grappa (see photo from Binny's ~$16 for 200 ml) this small amount adds tremendous flavor!
2-4 oz rich unsweetened powder coco imported is best, but Hershey's or Trader Joe's brands work

Method:

Prep mascarpone whip with 2 oz sugar till light (5 minutes) add egg yolks. Beat. Whip egg whites. Add the aged grappa to egg yolk mixture. If serving children or people who can't have grappa, at this point make a separate individual serving w/o grappa. Otherwise proceed by blending in whipped egg whites to the egg yolk mixture. You are ready to assemble.

In a glass container line bottom with one layer of cookies quickly dipped in coffee sweetened with sugar. Don't soak they will fall apart. Top with 1/2 of the cream mixture. With a sifter add a thick layer of powder coco. Repeat another layer and top with cookie only finished with thick coco powder. Cover with saran wrap and chill 4 hours. Overnight will be too soggy, but doable if time is limited. The container shown here is a glass loaf pan and serves 8. It is a picture of the recipe I made in Venice.  You can also make in individual bowls everything the same except assembly, which is method preferred in Verona for a neat presentation.

Chinese Lunar New Year: Yu Sheng Lucky Toss Salad

The Yu Sheng traditional lucky toss salad goes back to southern China. It is very popular today in Malaysia and Singapore. I first participated in this wonderful tradition in 2012 in Singapore where the  salad is sold in packets in local stores. Unfortunately, stateside you are unlikely to find such convenience. Here is a basic recipe, along with photos of my celebration from last year. As your guests toss the ingredients up with chopsticks, they should shout, "Lo Hei" which means tossing up good fortune in Cantonese.


Lunar New Year Yu Sheng Salad

These general ingredients should be arranged in separate piles on a large platter as shown in the photo. They symbolize:

Fish = abundance (I use smoked salmon or tuna)
Pomelo = luck (I use red grapefruit)
Mandarin oranges = prosperity
Cucumber = close family ties
Noodles = long life (rice noodles do not work well)
Peanuts = eternal youth
Radish = promotion of business and work (red or white work)
Fried flours crisps = gold (I use gluten free crackers crumbled)
Carrots = good luck
Mushrooms = longevity
Also use these items:
Pepper = money (for sprinkle packet)
Oil = abundant profit (spray over all the ingredients before the toss)
Sesame seeds = business success (for sprinkle packet before toss)
Chinese Five spice (easy to find contains cinnamon, anise, peppercorn, clove, fennel)

Before tossing with chopsticks, I have a guest sprinkle a red envelope of 1 teaspoon of Chinese Five spice powder, a little pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of sesame seeds combined. Lo Hei!